Harris Poll EquiTrends Restaurant Brands of the Year Study of 2016

One of the main attractions at malls besides entertainment are restaurants. They play an important role in driving consumer traffic, for instance, by offering high-quality food and a satisfying place to dine with friends and family. According to Mintel’s 2015 American Lifestyles report, Millennials and younger shoppers are spending more on vacations, dining out, and entertainment. From that, Mintel forecasts an increase of nearly 27 percent for dining out from 2014-19.

The above chart is the annual Harrris Poll EquiTrends Restaurant Brands of the Year Study results for 2016. As you can see Subway has remarkably achieved the Sandwich Shop Brand of the Year for the sixth year. Subway’s dominance in that category is attributed to the trends of staying in good shape and eating healthy. In the Mexican Restaurant category, Moe’s Southwest Grill is at the top which experienced one of the largest equity increases across all brands. They also grew significantly due to the healthy and fresh food trends. Other winner brands such as Dunkin Donuts, In-N-Out Burger are at the top as a result of “brand fans,” who are die-hard and extremely loyal customers.

*The poll was conducted by sampling 97,120 U.S. consumers ages 15 and over online between December 22nd, 2015 and February 1st, 2016. They issued 30-minute surveys involving 3,837 brands, “of which each respondent rated a total of 40 randomly selected brands.”